NHS suppliers face a tough customer

The £2.3bn NHS National Programme will mean a a thorough shake-up of the traditional healthcare market that may prove too tough for suppliers.

Health service IT director general Richard Granger says commercial concerns will be 'fundamentally subordinate' to modernisation requirements.

And health minister Lord Hunt, the political master of the National Programme, told a Prescriptions Pricing Authority conference last week that centralised procurement could push traditional suppliers out of the comfort zone.

'There are companies that will not be able to respond to specifications we have put out, that have done very well out of the NHS in the past years but won't come up to scratch in future,' he said.

'The National Programme mean decisions being made at national level and we are going to have to ensure what is achieved in NHS is as efficient and cost effective as possible.'

Despite the tough talk, the Department of Health is keen to develop strong partnerships with suppliers.

'We are looking for long-term relationships with the private sector,' said Lord Hunt.

'We want to have a situation where we are not the customer, where we drive hard bargains but we're in it together for the long term, sharing the risk.'

The National Programme is a five-year plan to create the technology infrastructure needed to support a truly 21st century health service.

There are four main projects - applications for ebookings and eprescriptions, electronic patient records, and a broadband NHSNet connecting GPs and hospitals.